Putting On The New Man - A Study In Colossians: Part I

    For this reason we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and understanding; that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing Him, being fruitful in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; strengthened with all might, according to His glorious power, for all patience and longsuffering with joy; giving thanks to the Father who has qualified us to be partakers of the inheritance of the saints in the light. Colossians 1:9-12

    Putting on the New Man is a study of the new creation process of transformation from the old man dying in his sin, to the born again, new creation in Christ, resurrected into glory and transferred into the kingdom of God! Putting on the New Man is like receiving a totally new suit of clothes that resembles that of a King, and putting off the old rags of the old man, that of a beggar. The total transformation resembles that of the metamorphosis of a worm to a butterfly, from one creature totally transformed into a new creature, resembling nothing of its old self.

    Metamorphosis means to change one's physical form, structure, or substance by supernatural means, also a striking alteration in one's character. Jesus said that a man must be born again to see and to enter the kingdom of God, in other words one must be birthed as a spiritual being in order to enter a spiritual kingdom. When I was confronted one night in my living room with the choice to follow Christ or not, I said yes, and my life took a drastic turn from darkness into light, beginning with my tongue as early as the next day my vocabulary was cleansed of cursing and taking God's name in vain. Something or Someone had invaded my very soul, purging and cleansing my mind and spirit. Everything about me changed, from motives to mindsets, a supernatural force was taking over my being by re-creating me into a spiritual being and forming me into God's image. In one night a hopeless addict was transformed into a new creation in Christ by the power of God and set free from the bondage of sin and death.

    In Zechariah 3:1-5 there is a picture of the old rags being removed and the new garments being put on Joshua the high priest, a new suit of clothes to cover and a clean turban on his head representing the mind of Christ! Joshua was being transformed from the old priesthood and transferred into kingdom royalty by the Angel of the Lord, the Lord Jesus Himself. The accusations of the enemy quickly fell to the ground as the divine transformation took place and a new creation stepped out into a supernatural realm of the Most High God. Another spiritual being created for good works and service in a spiritual kingdom under the total rule and control of the King of all kings and Lord of all Lords, Jesus the anointed One of God.

    Now Joshua was clothed with filthy garments, and was standing before the Angel. Then He answered and spoke to those who stood before Him, saying, "Take away the filthy garments from him." And to him He said, " See, I have removed your iniquity from you, and I will clothe you with rich robes." And I said, "Let them put a clean turban on His head." ( the mind of Christ covered with the helmet of salvation) So they put a clean turban on his head, and they put new clothes on him. And the Angel of the Lord stood by. Zechariah 3:1-5

ADVANCED TO ROYALTY 

    He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed (transferred) us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins. Colossians 1:13,14

    The new birth is not just another religious dead work or ritual, but a life changing transition from the earthly realm into the very kingdom of God. Upon receiving the supernatural cleansing of our sins by the blood of Jesus by confessing and repenting we are delivered immediately and transferred into the heavenly realm. The gift of salvation enables us to enter the throne of God as sons and not orphans or beggars to inherit His divine nature and character, thus we become a part of His royal family and priesthood of blood bought saints!

    Never just old sinners saved by grace, but newly created spiritual beings created to rule and reign in the supernatural kingdom of God on earth as "Royal Priests." The mindset of the old priesthood and even the traditions of hundreds of years of man-centered religion has blurred the lines and mission of the Body of Christ. No longer a place to go, the church of the living Lord Jesus is an organic vineyard meant to cover the world with the Message of the truth to set all of mankind free from the bondage of sin and death and to make exact replicas of the Lord Jesus Christ! The devil has deceived the world into believing a lie that church is something for Sundays only, run by a pastor, financed by a congregation of people that expect any work to be done, to be done by him, and the result of this demonically inspired concept is a dead and lifeless assembly of weekend warriors sound asleep in their comfortable little sheep pens of good intentions.

    The Bride of Christ is a warrior Queen adorned for her Husband, Jesus, to rule and reign in the kingdom of God, birthing new creations in Christ and populating the earth with a divine spiritual family of blood bought, Spirit filled children of the King of all kings! Talk about a "Block Buster," this story is totally out of this world and only those who have spiritual eyes to see will understand the true meaning of what it is to be a Royal Priesthood in the kingdom of God. Like sleeping beauty the bride slumbers as the shaking of kingdoms begins, but soon she will awaken to the sound of the trumpet and will rise to conquer and to be victorious throughout the earth!

    But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy. I Peter 2:9,10

THE HEADSHIP OF CHRIST

    He is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. For by Him all things were created that are in Heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. Colossians 1:15-17

    In order to understand our newly inherited position in the kingdom of God we must first look at and understand Who it is we serve. The Lord Jesus Christ is the very image of God and if you want to know what God looks like in the flesh, He looks like Jesus because Jesus is God! Jesus is the Creator of all things, He is also the Head of all things and everything that has been created holds together by Him including the very cells of our bodies. The kingdom of Heaven is ruled by the King of all kings and Lord of all!

    Over the past few eons it seems that our view of God's kingdom has dimmed and because of the traditions of men passed down through the ages we have a blurred image of the reality of who Jesus is and who we are to be in Him. First of all He is preeminent over the affairs of His church, a living organism created by Him and for Him, never to be owned or controlled by man. The glorious church of the Lord Jesus Christ, the assembly of the called out saints of God has been defiled by the selfish ambition, pride and greed of men who have been deceived and polluted with the doctrines of demons and the traditions of their ancestors, leaving the kingdom vision and mission for their own agendas of fleshly gain. In order for the once powerful apostolic kingdom to begin to flourish again Jesus must be Lord and followed by men and women who have surrendered their lives under the control of Holy Spirit's leading, leaving the world behind to serve in the spiritual kingdom of God!

    Jesus said, "I will build My church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it!" The problem being, man has totally ignored the words of Christ and has erected a shrine on every corner of the planet, filled with the rituals and traditions of their fathers, mostly adopted from pagan practices, myths and fables, leaving a dead and lifeless shell of man-centered tombs, full of the corpses of rotting, stinking, decaying, fleshly members destined for Hell! Jesus didn't rent a building, fill it with chairs, post a sign in the yard and pray for someone to show up, heavens no! He chose twelve living breathing souls to deposit His heavenly kingdom in so that His organic vineyard of supernatural new creations in Christ would grow and multiply throughout the earth. A body consisting of born-again blood washed saints of God, a spiritual race of divine worshipers called out of the darkness of this fleshly world into the light and glory of His presence.

    And He is the Head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence. Colossians 1:18

Your servant in Christ, Timothy Laughlin
   Minister of the Gospel of Jesus Christ